Media Stigmatization of Mental Illness: Persuasive Speech

Have you ever envisioned yourself on the reciprocating end of a story that sensationalizes only a portion of relevant information towards you? Shon brightly through a negative light, the media is evidently responsible for disseminating of adverse stereotypes and false descriptions of innocent victims who are silently suffering with mental health issues. Through the influential forces of manipulation and stigmatization, the media holds the power to control society’s thoughts and attitudes towards mental health patients. Inaccurately depicted throughout all media platforms, this specific marginalized group is negatively portrayed, left without a voice. The issues of the mental illness stigma, the effects of the negative depiction from the media on mental health patients and the manipulation of someone’s personal story in the absence of the truth will be addressed which aims to emphasize the need for our nation to stand against the adverse representations of mental health patients.

In the absence of the truth, the media treatment of mental health patients contributes to the stigma that is evident in the turbulent nature of our world. Trapped in the cycle of illness, mental health patients are continuously portrayed within the media as dangerous, unpredictable, murderers and are to blame for their condition; but is this the truth? What we see through the media isn’t reality, but a misrepresentation of false depiction. Media platforms have distinctive ways of telling stories, using specialized language to capture the eye of the public, which is highlighted in this article. Emphasized through the use of a jaw-dropping statistic that is intentionally presented in large, bold text; the dramatized headline ‘1,200 killed by mental health patients’ forces the reader to believe there are 1,200 victims of mentally ill killers on the streets. These techniques evoke the maximum emotional response and forces the audience to believe that their information is trustworthy, sparking fear in the public eye. Despite the fact that mentally ill patients are more prone to be victims to themselves, the repercussion of an unconscionable act of violence is the mainstream ideology within our society that forces us to label the perpetrator as ‘crazy’. This is a result of the sensationalized media, which continues to emphasize the dangers and stereotypical depictions of these innocent victims. “Felt as if I had to wear a mask to hide that I was unwell. With a number of masks to wear, I felt I got 'lost' with who I was supposed to be, and who I truly am. You shouldn’t have to hide from the media. You shouldn't be ashamed of having a mental illness, yet I felt I needed to” (Blue, 2019). How many innocent victims have to express their pain and suffering before our society opens their eyes and holds the media accountable for taking the humanity out of the information they provide.

The mental illness stigma that is inaccurately exaggerated throughout media platforms tend to only discuss the parts of the situation that dramatize the incident to gravitate people towards viewing without depicting crucial portions of the story that hold equal relevance. Due to the sensationalized media, the public begin to form a blind opinion based on a breaking news headline, contributing to the fear towards mental health patients. As highlighted in these dramatized headlines, the media constantly exposes these stereotypical portrayals of mental health patients. Manipulating our ideas and attitudes causing the viewers to fall prey to adopting these problematic perceptions, distancing the audience from the issue that needs our empathy and attention. Negatively depicting mental health patients, it is evident that the media constructs their stigmatized perspective through the use of strong emotive language. Written in bold on the front cover of a magazines and news articles, the media appeals to the emotions of fear, positioning the audience to feel obliges to fearing the victims, which is exposed in these two images on the left. Mental health patients have long carried a stigma that is forever exaggerated in the media, altering society’s beliefs and attitudes.

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It is estimated that more than 2 million Australians’ refuse to seek help for mental health issues very year due to the continual stigma that discourages people to speak up. Dramatized to make the maximum emotional effect, it is evident that the misrepresentations of reality that is embroidered throughout different media platforms is the reason for the increase in mental health patients. Despite these misrepresentations, our society is still drawn to the inaccurate portrayals however do they realize the excessive harm that it is causing? Illustrating a false picture of what they believe will capture the attention of all eyes. The media remains feeding the stereotypical portrayals to our society, expressing the perpetuation of the mental health stigma that is still a prevalent issue in our nation today. Unaware of what occurs behind closed doors, the media uses the pictures of pills, the videos of physical violence and the label that elicits fear to inaccurately portray mental health patients, which is undeniably not the true reflection of those who are silently suffering. Whilst they get smaller, the cameras get bigger; focusing on these mistaken representations the media is reluctant to shine a light on those who are slowly perishing. Instead, the media’s use of omission, along with other techniques and conventions, reinforce the bias and unfair media construction of mental health, which is evidently shown through the number of lives who have been hiding behind their own shadow.

Inclined to label the perpetrator as ‘crazy’, the absence of the actual situation doesn’t stop our society from automatically falling for the negatively depicted information that is emphasized in the media. Reinforcing the adverse construction of the media’s landscape of the issue of mental health, recent news article highlights a leaked photo of star center James Roberts that has circulated on social media, showing Robert being carried out of a nightclub unconscious by four males. The aftermath of this leaked photo that spread like fire throughout all social media resulted in Robert admitting to having a mental issue that was related to alcohol and drug addiction. All it took was one photo and his career and social status was in severe danger. “Schapelle Corby suffers serious issues with her mental health as her life is controlled by drugs and will struggle to handle life in Australia', according to author of her life story” (White, 2017). This article that emphasized a specific media representation of mental illness, highlights how the media negatively depicts those who are suffering. Eliciting the truth out of the information provided, the media tells her story to the world, the question is how does the audience respond? Using the emotive language like ‘serious issues’, the media forces the audience to believe that Shapelle is heavily addicted to drugs, which severely impacts her mental illness. However, they forgot to mention that she hates people staring and pointing at her as well as the cameras, which made her extremely paranoid about her arrest, but even more so the public scrutiny that was leaked through the media. Reinforcing the fact that the degree of mental health doesn’t really matter because the media sees it all the same especially for someone that is famous, it is clear that the media has the power to manipulate someone’s personal story into something that they believe could intrigue the public eye.

Unable to see the innocent victims who are suffering with a mental illness. Unable to recognize the devastation that the media is creating. Unable to obtain a true sense of reality. Humanity is blinded, completely oblivious by the misconception of mental health patients that is negatively portrayed throughout the different media platforms. We can hide from those who are portrayed as evil, however how long can we hide from the truth? It is evident that the media continues to manipulate our ideas and beliefs, illustrating a negative vision that manufactures destruction within our nation. So, how long until you will stand; stand for those who are without a voice.